WELCOME!!
I am excited to meet you all and to get to know you all. I hope you are ready for the craziest, most insane, most exhausting two years of your life. Who am I kidding, there is no way to prepare for this.
I was asked to give some advice to the new class but I am sitting here and I am not really sure what to say. I mean I only completed my FIRST year. I am no expert. I mean I am changing most of the things I did in my classroom this year. But I can give you some words of advice on surviving.
1. DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO STAY SANE. If this is exercising or talking on the phone to family every night or traveling on weekends, do it!! This kind of falls hand in hand with finding something to do such as a hobby. Its going to inevitably happen though. You are going to be consumed by teaching at some point this year. You are going to eat, breath, and sleep school. But it wont last. You will either see the light or have a mental breakdown. When that occurs, find a hobby. My hobby? Travelling… Thanks to my neighbor. It was sometime in the fall when the one and only Charles Preacher said “we always need a trip to look forward to.” From that day one, there has always been something, whether big or small, that I have to look forward to. To me, spending money to get out of the delta is 100% worth it.
2. SLEEP. As I was cleaning out my classroom I found some goals that I had my homeroom write back in August when we were holding classes. I wrote my goals for the year down too. On my middle finger I wrote “Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night” I am proud to say that 98% of the time, I stuck to that goal. I coached soccer so sometimes it just wasn’t possible. I never stayed up late doing school stuff. You just have to realize that its not that serious. Things will get done when they get done. Didn’t finish all the grading you wanted? That’s fine, do it on your planning block. Didn’t call all the parents you wanted? That’s fine, finish it tomorrow. If you don’t sleep, I promise you that the kids are going to sound ten times louder than the actually are the next day.
3. Teaching is one big science experiment in which every day is a new day and you can change things however you want. If something is not going the way you envisioned, change it. As long as you are on board 100% and you are enthusiastic about it, the kids will eventually accept the change as well. Change the look of your classroom. Change the consequences. Change the way you teach. Doesn’t matter. Just realize that you are the scientist and the classroom is your lab. Don’t go overboard, but don’t be afraid to change things.
4. Serenity Prayer…this has been my motto all year. Once I let go and realized that I can’t control everything, my emotional well being vastly improved. It doesn’t matter the quality of your school, you just cannot control everything. I told myself and eventually I started telling my students, I don’t care what happens outside my classroom, but in here, I run things. And still you can’t control whether or not a student wants to learn in the classroom. As long as your doing everything you can do and as long as you can go home at night and say “I tried” then you are doing your job. I turned to laughter. Crying was too emotionally draining. Find a friend and just laugh about the ridiculousness. Don’t complain about. Just laugh. Realize that this whole experience is sort of what Alice felt like falling down the rabbit whole. Reason goes out the window so stop trying to make sense of it all.
And that’s it. I have no other wise words to depart on you. I am here for you though, especially if you want a good laugh…remember that time my students stuck neon green gum to my chair and I sat on it?!?!? Yeah that was funny…
Saturday, June 4, 2011
May 24, 2011
Well that’s it. Year one down. Like my roommate said “it was kind of anticlimactic.” The year as a whole was a rollercoaster ride, however, waking up for the last day of school seemed no different than any other day. And when the bell rang to let the kids go, I packed up my stuff and left too. That was that.
I am pretty sure I was just in shock that I made it to the last day of school. I mean there were certainly days in the year where I didn’t think I was going to make it. Heck, there were days in May when I thought “Can I really make it another 13 days?!” But I did.
What were my thoughts on the year? Too many to rehash. Do I think I grew as a teacher? Its really unclear because its hard to discern what I changed consciously and what I changed because of “outside” forces. I do believe that I learned how to mentally deal with my situation and that’s how I made it to May. I learned how to not let everything bother me. I learned to keep my school work at school except for on Sundays. I learned to just turn my head and laugh at the insanity around me.
But what was the best part of the year? The friendships I have made over the year. I have a small group of really close friends and I am not sure what I would do without them. They make this whole thing bearable, especially my roommate and neighbors. I am not sure I would have made it to May without them. Really and truly. They make this whole ordeal worth it…
But here I am speaking as if it’s over! Ha. Far from it! Yes its true I am moving on to a different school, however, I am still in the program and I still have one fully year of teaching to go before I can truly talk of the “bonds between friends that will last a lifetime.”
Summer school starts in two days. In January I realized that I am going to have to take summer school seriously or at least more so than most second years. I need to undo the bad habits that I have picked up and re-teach myself how to be an effective teacher. But the thought of re-teaching myself everything in just three weeks is overwhelming. So I decided to focus on two things that I think are crucial to any classroom and that I personally need the most work with: consequences and rewards.
For the first three months, I did really well with following a consequence ladder and it sort of worked. It worked well for the kids who were truly good kids but stepped out of line every once in awhile. It didn’t work well with the “bad” kids and it didn’t work well once I sent them to the office. But by November I stopped being so consistent. It was a lot of work on myself and I was barely staying afloat. Come January, I was making up consequences as they came to me. You have detention! You stay when the bell rings! You go sit in the corner! It worked for the most part, however, there were major consistency issues that even the kids would call me out on and they were right! Someone would get caught eating and would have detention while someone else caught doing the same thing may just lose 5 points for the day. That’s were the issue lies. The kids need to know if they do x, then y is the consequence no matter who the offender is. Children really seem to pickup on fairness. If you treat them fairly, they will, more times than not, react appropriately. So I am going to pay close attention to our consequence ladder in the classroom this summer and make sure I am CONSISTANT.
BUT more important than consequences, in my eyes, are rewards. Ideally, I want my classroom to be based around rewards and not consequences. I want to motivate the kids to learn, not beat them down. At the beginning of the year, I plan to come down hard with consequences, but I will also come down hard on rewards. I am not sure entirely what my reward system will be like yet, but I believe its going to be centered around groups. As the second semester progressed, I used groups in my classroom more and more until I finally just left them in groups. If managed correctly and if the rules are clearly stated, groups work wonders. I do a lot less running around and the kids do a lot more working. By May I rarely had a kid asleep in my classroom and I believe its because they were able to ask neighbors for help instead of just put their head down and give up. I want my kids to take pride in their groups and I want them to motivate each other in the groups. I may not be able to practice this in summer school because everyone (the other teachers) may not want to work in groups. However, I can practice praising the kids and their good behavior a lot more than I did in my classroom this year.
There are a lot of other things I want to change and I will contemplate this as the summer progresses.
I am pretty sure I was just in shock that I made it to the last day of school. I mean there were certainly days in the year where I didn’t think I was going to make it. Heck, there were days in May when I thought “Can I really make it another 13 days?!” But I did.
What were my thoughts on the year? Too many to rehash. Do I think I grew as a teacher? Its really unclear because its hard to discern what I changed consciously and what I changed because of “outside” forces. I do believe that I learned how to mentally deal with my situation and that’s how I made it to May. I learned how to not let everything bother me. I learned to keep my school work at school except for on Sundays. I learned to just turn my head and laugh at the insanity around me.
But what was the best part of the year? The friendships I have made over the year. I have a small group of really close friends and I am not sure what I would do without them. They make this whole thing bearable, especially my roommate and neighbors. I am not sure I would have made it to May without them. Really and truly. They make this whole ordeal worth it…
But here I am speaking as if it’s over! Ha. Far from it! Yes its true I am moving on to a different school, however, I am still in the program and I still have one fully year of teaching to go before I can truly talk of the “bonds between friends that will last a lifetime.”
Summer school starts in two days. In January I realized that I am going to have to take summer school seriously or at least more so than most second years. I need to undo the bad habits that I have picked up and re-teach myself how to be an effective teacher. But the thought of re-teaching myself everything in just three weeks is overwhelming. So I decided to focus on two things that I think are crucial to any classroom and that I personally need the most work with: consequences and rewards.
For the first three months, I did really well with following a consequence ladder and it sort of worked. It worked well for the kids who were truly good kids but stepped out of line every once in awhile. It didn’t work well with the “bad” kids and it didn’t work well once I sent them to the office. But by November I stopped being so consistent. It was a lot of work on myself and I was barely staying afloat. Come January, I was making up consequences as they came to me. You have detention! You stay when the bell rings! You go sit in the corner! It worked for the most part, however, there were major consistency issues that even the kids would call me out on and they were right! Someone would get caught eating and would have detention while someone else caught doing the same thing may just lose 5 points for the day. That’s were the issue lies. The kids need to know if they do x, then y is the consequence no matter who the offender is. Children really seem to pickup on fairness. If you treat them fairly, they will, more times than not, react appropriately. So I am going to pay close attention to our consequence ladder in the classroom this summer and make sure I am CONSISTANT.
BUT more important than consequences, in my eyes, are rewards. Ideally, I want my classroom to be based around rewards and not consequences. I want to motivate the kids to learn, not beat them down. At the beginning of the year, I plan to come down hard with consequences, but I will also come down hard on rewards. I am not sure entirely what my reward system will be like yet, but I believe its going to be centered around groups. As the second semester progressed, I used groups in my classroom more and more until I finally just left them in groups. If managed correctly and if the rules are clearly stated, groups work wonders. I do a lot less running around and the kids do a lot more working. By May I rarely had a kid asleep in my classroom and I believe its because they were able to ask neighbors for help instead of just put their head down and give up. I want my kids to take pride in their groups and I want them to motivate each other in the groups. I may not be able to practice this in summer school because everyone (the other teachers) may not want to work in groups. However, I can practice praising the kids and their good behavior a lot more than I did in my classroom this year.
There are a lot of other things I want to change and I will contemplate this as the summer progresses.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
So Long Second-Years!!!
Dear Second-Years
Although I may not be close with all of you, as a group you’ve been really helpful and have left a mark on me.
The first thing I noticed about everyone was that you were all really willing to help out a first year in anyway. You were a great resource! I got so many of my manipulatives from you guys. I got ideas for my classroom from you guys. As my first year ends and I have to start thinking about the next generation of MTC that is about to enter, I have really stopped to think about how I can be a resource to them and what I will tell them when the inevitable question about my first year pops up. And honestly right now I just have been thinking that I need to avoid talking to first years about my first year because I am so pessimistic and negative about everything now. Thus, thinking about how much you helped me after your first year makes me feel really grateful. You had to dig deep to not just share the horror stories!!
But y’all were so much more than a great resource. The mental and emotional support that I got from second years was always perfectly timed and there were certain people that I knew I could always go to. The random gchats and texts really made more of a difference than I think most people ever realized. This is my first time really getting away from home because I went to college about 30min away from where I grew up. Now its at least two plane rides before I get to see any family. We are forced to mingle with each other and be there for each other because most of us are far away from home. That family culture was really cultivated here. A special shout out to my delta second years. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how boring the delta is and how much it sucks in general. However, you all did a great job of making the most of it. I have had some REALLY good laughs with you all. And you know just the friendly face every once in awhile makes such a difference.
But most of all, I appreciate the second years because you all are living proof that it is possible to make it through these two years. I mean its May and school still sucks. IN FACT, I may even argue that Ben Guest is wrong (what?!) and that its not October nor February that are the worse months but really and truly its May!!! Post the state test has been hell. And things are just spiraling further out of control. However, I know I can make it. And the thought of making it another year after that can be really scary, but hey the second-years can do it, so can I!
So I would like to give all second years a big bear hug thank-you for all that you have done. I wish you luck with whatever you do. I mean after this, you truly can do anything. Don’t limit yourself.
Peace,
Laura
Although I may not be close with all of you, as a group you’ve been really helpful and have left a mark on me.
The first thing I noticed about everyone was that you were all really willing to help out a first year in anyway. You were a great resource! I got so many of my manipulatives from you guys. I got ideas for my classroom from you guys. As my first year ends and I have to start thinking about the next generation of MTC that is about to enter, I have really stopped to think about how I can be a resource to them and what I will tell them when the inevitable question about my first year pops up. And honestly right now I just have been thinking that I need to avoid talking to first years about my first year because I am so pessimistic and negative about everything now. Thus, thinking about how much you helped me after your first year makes me feel really grateful. You had to dig deep to not just share the horror stories!!
But y’all were so much more than a great resource. The mental and emotional support that I got from second years was always perfectly timed and there were certain people that I knew I could always go to. The random gchats and texts really made more of a difference than I think most people ever realized. This is my first time really getting away from home because I went to college about 30min away from where I grew up. Now its at least two plane rides before I get to see any family. We are forced to mingle with each other and be there for each other because most of us are far away from home. That family culture was really cultivated here. A special shout out to my delta second years. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how boring the delta is and how much it sucks in general. However, you all did a great job of making the most of it. I have had some REALLY good laughs with you all. And you know just the friendly face every once in awhile makes such a difference.
But most of all, I appreciate the second years because you all are living proof that it is possible to make it through these two years. I mean its May and school still sucks. IN FACT, I may even argue that Ben Guest is wrong (what?!) and that its not October nor February that are the worse months but really and truly its May!!! Post the state test has been hell. And things are just spiraling further out of control. However, I know I can make it. And the thought of making it another year after that can be really scary, but hey the second-years can do it, so can I!
So I would like to give all second years a big bear hug thank-you for all that you have done. I wish you luck with whatever you do. I mean after this, you truly can do anything. Don’t limit yourself.
Peace,
Laura
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Stream of Consciousness
Writing about what I am going to change next year is really rough right now. I am just trying to make it to the end of this year in one piece. Yes I have had thoughts about how I am going to change things in the middle of class, but I haven’t really sat down and thought about it. I am not sure even where I will be next year. That’s what the summer is for. But here goes nothing…
…I will be stricter with calculators. They wont steal batteries. They will each have numbers assigned to them and the numbers will not change…
…I will not teach calculator programs until the very end. I wish I had hammered the basics even more. I should have stayed on some subjects longer…
…I want to plan out my own schedule for the year. The kids will know when every test is for the fall and spring semesters separately. The fall semester I would randomly just say we are having a test this week or next Monday. This semester I have gotten better at but not what I want…
…I want to have better organization on the walls in my room. I want the room to have less white space. I have decorated school doors since the 5th grade. My best friend and I use to do it all the time because our mom’s worked in the school. I LOVE decorating classrooms. I had such high hopes for my room. However I quickly learned to change those hopes because my students would ripe them down or write curse words on them. Next year I want stuff up all the time…
…I am sticking with rewards…I need to be more consistent with my consequences. I have noticed that I am not fair. Its not on purpose but its because I have started to make up my own consequences on the fly rather than sticking to a ladder. I want to create a ladder again so everyone knows when they are getting what and why. Because of variables that were not in my control, this was not possible this year, but I am looking to change that next year.
…My overall goal is for the students to take on more responsibility in my classroom from the beginning. They will have organized notebooks. They will write things down and I will do less. They will take attendance. They will work in groups and answer each other’s questions. I am not your mamas!!! That’s what I say these days. I don’t buy your pencils. I don’t keep track of your id. I don’t make sure you aren’t cheating. That’s wasting my energy. You have got to wake up and want to learn. Otherwise its all pointless. …that’s the tail end of a speech that I was giving my classes today….they were off the chain. I cancelled tutoring because I was so tired. I felt guilty.
…I will be stricter with calculators. They wont steal batteries. They will each have numbers assigned to them and the numbers will not change…
…I will not teach calculator programs until the very end. I wish I had hammered the basics even more. I should have stayed on some subjects longer…
…I want to plan out my own schedule for the year. The kids will know when every test is for the fall and spring semesters separately. The fall semester I would randomly just say we are having a test this week or next Monday. This semester I have gotten better at but not what I want…
…I want to have better organization on the walls in my room. I want the room to have less white space. I have decorated school doors since the 5th grade. My best friend and I use to do it all the time because our mom’s worked in the school. I LOVE decorating classrooms. I had such high hopes for my room. However I quickly learned to change those hopes because my students would ripe them down or write curse words on them. Next year I want stuff up all the time…
…I am sticking with rewards…I need to be more consistent with my consequences. I have noticed that I am not fair. Its not on purpose but its because I have started to make up my own consequences on the fly rather than sticking to a ladder. I want to create a ladder again so everyone knows when they are getting what and why. Because of variables that were not in my control, this was not possible this year, but I am looking to change that next year.
…My overall goal is for the students to take on more responsibility in my classroom from the beginning. They will have organized notebooks. They will write things down and I will do less. They will take attendance. They will work in groups and answer each other’s questions. I am not your mamas!!! That’s what I say these days. I don’t buy your pencils. I don’t keep track of your id. I don’t make sure you aren’t cheating. That’s wasting my energy. You have got to wake up and want to learn. Otherwise its all pointless. …that’s the tail end of a speech that I was giving my classes today….they were off the chain. I cancelled tutoring because I was so tired. I felt guilty.
Paradise aka HAWAII
For spring break Charlie and I went to Hawaii. We could not have made a better decision for so many reasons.
First of all, it was my first visit to the island. I have always wanted to go and I can’t believe I made that dream a reality. It’s crazy that Hawaii is part of the US. You get there and you feel like you are in another country! And Hawaii met all my expectations and more. The people as well as the general atmosphere were very chill and relaxing. The beaches were gorgeous. The views were to die for. The food was scrumptious. BUT best of all, I was able to relax.
This is the second reason why Hawaii was an excellent decision. Yes it was spring break and I would have probably been happy just about anywhere outside of the state of Mississippi, however, being in Hawaii I completely forgot about EVERYTHING. I forgot about being cursed out and dealing with children who just don’t care. I did not think of the delta once! I got some much needed sleep. I woke up when I wanted to. I just felt so much better! I wasn’t holding any stress in my shoulders. Life was gooooood.
What did we do?
- Sunday: we climbed Diamond Head! It was more of a hike than I thought. But the view at the top was to die for!!! Plus I love hiking.
- Monday: Iolani Palace! I love royalty. It was fun
- Tuesday: Tour of the island. Because of the tsunami the waves on the north shore were ridiculous!! I have always wanted to see big waves and they were out of control. We got to go to a pineapple fame (DOLE). Pineapple is my favorite fruit so that was awesome. Do you know how pineapple grows?
- Wednesday: We went to a market. I love markets.
- Thursday: Polynesian Culture Center. WOOOHOOO. I love the Mormons just for building this place. I learned so much. I had so much fun. It made me want to go to all the other islands! The whole center was centered around different Polynesian islands and their cultures. We saw performances from all the countries as well!!
- Friday: We spent ALL day at the beach. We were leaving and we wanted to soak in as much sun as possible
Yes the end was horrible to leave, however Charlie and I came to a realization. We work in hell. We go to work every day even though we hate it just so we can go to places like this. And it was all worth it. I would go back in a heart beat. In fact as we were traveling to the airport I started shooting questions at a local about life on the island and how much it actually costs, etc. Perhaps I am headed to Hawaii post Mississippi delta? Ha.
Oh and pineapple grows on a bush about 3 feet off the ground, not in a tree or in the ground.
First of all, it was my first visit to the island. I have always wanted to go and I can’t believe I made that dream a reality. It’s crazy that Hawaii is part of the US. You get there and you feel like you are in another country! And Hawaii met all my expectations and more. The people as well as the general atmosphere were very chill and relaxing. The beaches were gorgeous. The views were to die for. The food was scrumptious. BUT best of all, I was able to relax.
This is the second reason why Hawaii was an excellent decision. Yes it was spring break and I would have probably been happy just about anywhere outside of the state of Mississippi, however, being in Hawaii I completely forgot about EVERYTHING. I forgot about being cursed out and dealing with children who just don’t care. I did not think of the delta once! I got some much needed sleep. I woke up when I wanted to. I just felt so much better! I wasn’t holding any stress in my shoulders. Life was gooooood.
What did we do?
- Sunday: we climbed Diamond Head! It was more of a hike than I thought. But the view at the top was to die for!!! Plus I love hiking.
- Monday: Iolani Palace! I love royalty. It was fun
- Tuesday: Tour of the island. Because of the tsunami the waves on the north shore were ridiculous!! I have always wanted to see big waves and they were out of control. We got to go to a pineapple fame (DOLE). Pineapple is my favorite fruit so that was awesome. Do you know how pineapple grows?
- Wednesday: We went to a market. I love markets.
- Thursday: Polynesian Culture Center. WOOOHOOO. I love the Mormons just for building this place. I learned so much. I had so much fun. It made me want to go to all the other islands! The whole center was centered around different Polynesian islands and their cultures. We saw performances from all the countries as well!!
- Friday: We spent ALL day at the beach. We were leaving and we wanted to soak in as much sun as possible
Yes the end was horrible to leave, however Charlie and I came to a realization. We work in hell. We go to work every day even though we hate it just so we can go to places like this. And it was all worth it. I would go back in a heart beat. In fact as we were traveling to the airport I started shooting questions at a local about life on the island and how much it actually costs, etc. Perhaps I am headed to Hawaii post Mississippi delta? Ha.
Oh and pineapple grows on a bush about 3 feet off the ground, not in a tree or in the ground.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
O.M.G its MARCH!!!!
Just a quick shout out to the fact that WE MADE IT TO MARCH!!! I can't believe that at all. Its crazy to look back on it all. In September I really didn't think I was going to make it to this point.
I know we still have March, April, and May to get through, but you know what else I have to look forward to? MARDI GRAS, HAWAII, A TRIP TO DC, A VISIT FROM MY FAMILY, and ENGLAND THIS SUMMER!!!!
Congrats to us all for making it thus far!
I know we still have March, April, and May to get through, but you know what else I have to look forward to? MARDI GRAS, HAWAII, A TRIP TO DC, A VISIT FROM MY FAMILY, and ENGLAND THIS SUMMER!!!!
Congrats to us all for making it thus far!
Why Should You Join MTC?
1. …if you got rejected from TFA.
2. …because you realize MTC is ten million times better than TFA so its actually a blessing in disguise. For real! I’ve talked to my TFA friends about this. I am in the same schools as the TFA teachers. We are going through the same hell BUT MTC teachers get a free macbook and a free education. Thus MTC > TFA.
3. …because you want to save the world. Ha. Well you certainly aren’t going to save the world. But I have to acknowledge the importance of this sort of spirit in some of the teachers I’ve met. They quickly learn that that’s not going to happen, but its not that they discard the thought, but rather they change it. It’s not about saving the world, but making a difference in one child’s life. I can tell you right now, I wake up and go to school every day for a handful of students. I believe that I am actually making a difference in their lives.
4. …if you want to learn a new hobby. I mean I was placed in the middle of no where. There is nothing to do but drive to Memphis and spend money shopping. You can visit other places like Vicksburg and Tunica, but Charlie and I did all that by the end of October. Hell we even have made it to Gulfport! So that means that you really have to entertain yourself. I make a lot of things. I made a stool for my classroom. I cook. I workout. But my most recent hobby has been gardening. It was an investment but totally worth it. My tulips and daffodils are starting to sprout. I am so proud of the work I have done. I am pretty sure no one has done anything with our yard in years. Its been quite the workout every Saturday. I’ve been working at it for the past two weekends and I’ve only been able to clear one flowerbed and rake a quarter of the yard. Enough about my gardening adventures…my point is living in the middle of nowhere around no one from home has forced me to challenge myself to do things I probably would never have time for otherwise in a city.
5. …if you want to dip your toes in the world of education. Even if you have a horrible two years, you come out with a master’s degree. I would almost argue that if teaching IS what you want to do as your career, then don’t do this program. Both my roommate and myself came into this program with the desire to become teachers. But because of a lot of factors we became very negative about a lot of things. I have questioned whether this is for me. I have questioned whether this is really what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. I have questioned whether there is any way to save these schools other than just shutting them down. I am not saying that I don’t want to teach after this program. I do. I think that I am not being given the tools to reach my full potential so I am curious to see if I can actually teach and I think that requires a better school. But just be forewarned that this will really change the way you view education.
Someone recently said something that has really hit home to me in recent weeks. “Even if I never touch education again, I know that schools like this exist. I know to be grateful for what I have and the education I had growing up.” I have a little over a year to go. Who knows where I will be after that, but I will always be able to look back on this experience, and hell, just be proud of myself for making to through in one piece!
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